


That Fish Looks Like You

by fallofthereichenbach



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Aquariums, Fish??, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 14:54:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7806235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallofthereichenbach/pseuds/fallofthereichenbach
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Merlin works at an aquarium, Arthur likes looking at fish and Merlin, and Gwaine is not-so-secretly laughing at both of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Fish Looks Like You

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to get back into the swing of writing. This is going to be bad, but you gotta make bad things sometimes for the purpose of later making good things.

"Remind me what I'm doing here again, Arthur?"

"You've very kindly agreed to accompany me to the aquarium."

Gwaine was grumbling again. Arthur had hoped that he'd finally stopped and accepted his fate on the short tube journey that it took to get here, but apparently his hopes were being dashed before his very eyes and ears.

"And why is this happening?" Arthur was busy focusing on the seemingly-endless line of small children ahead of them, but he was certain that Gwaine was pouting.

"Because I (very kindly, I must say) agreed to pay for drinks next time we go out in return?"

"No, I mean why are you dragging me here to spend an afternoon looking at fish? If I wanted to smell the fishy wildlife, I'd walk into any public toilet in London."

"Gross. And I like fish, okay? They're cool."

It was a good question from Gwaine, though. Why did Arthur like fish so much? Granted, he wasn't obsessed with them; he wasn't an expert in all of the different species; he didn't know everything that there was to know. At a basic level, he just enjoyed standing and looking at creatures that had no idea who he was or what he was thinking. Fish have no concept of taxes or crappy jobs or irritating people: or, in fact, any of the many other trivial concerns that continue to plague humanity. And Arthur for one was certainly able to find some comfort in that.

"Whatever. I'm not going to pass on a night of free drinks. Speaking of, you're paying today as well right?"

Gwaine. Determined to squeeze every opportunity and benefit he could from a situation. Arthur respected that about him.

The line of children in front of them was decreasing rapidly as they were herded away by a parent. They were uncomfortably loud and hyper, and Arthur made a mental note to avoid following them around the aquarium at all costs. Seeing Arthur looking at them, Gwaine took the opportunity to make one of his trademark smartness comments:

"Staring after your intellectual equals there, Arthur? Finally realising that we will literally be the oldest people here who haven't brought the excuse of children with us?"

Unfortunately at that moment the last of the small humans cleared out of the way, leaving the path to the ticket counter clear. With a quiet and distracted "shut up" muttered in the vague direction of Gwaine, Arthur walked up to the counter as coolly as possible with his friend following.

"Hello," the man standing behind the glass greeted him with a customer-service-perfected smile. The man definitely wasn't unattractive. Far from it, in fact. He had glossy dark hair that swept gently across his forehead and contrasted greatly with the paleness of his seemingly smooth skin. His eyes were a dark blue that still managed to glint with mirth after what had probably been hours of standing there working and... damn, those cheekbones could cut solid rock.

"Hi," Arthur said, with a smile of his own. He didn't get easily flustered, but if anyone was going to throw him off balance a little, it was probably this guy. He had that kind of air about him, one of someone who made people forget what they were going to say on the spot, like a magic trick.

Speaking of, it seemed as though Arthur had given too long and too pregnant a pause; the man had raised an eyebrow, and he felt Gwaine shifting a little uncomfortably behind him.

"Uh, we'd like to purchase two tickets for the aquarium?"

"Two adult tickets?" The guy's smile almost seemed to intensify, as though he could laugh any second.

"Yes. Two adult tickets. We are two adults who have come to an aquarium. Please agree with me that it is an odd thing to do," Gwaine's voice came suddenly from behind Arthur; he'd always had a thing about being overshadowed. He hated it, both metaphorically and literally (Gwaine had been known to complain about lighting that was too dark for others to clearly see his face).

"On the contrary, I think it is definitely a good thing for two adults to go to an aquarium. Aquariums are brilliant places, not just for children."

"Yeah, well, you would say that," Gwaine sighed, and mentally checked out of the conversation.

"So I take it that you are the aquarium enthusiast of your little group then?" The man turned his attention to Arthur.

"Well, uh, enthusiast might be a little strong. I like aquariums, they're cool places to be. Very calming."

"I couldn't agree more. Would you like the standard admission, or would you like the deluxe ticket which also includes a guided tour?"

"Well if it's deluxe... The bigger the better, I guess!" Gwaine laughed, ever the immature one. Arthur just looked at him, then gave the man a look as if to say 'this is what I have to put up with'.

"I think we'll just stick with standard admission, thanks."

"Are you sure? The deluxe ticket comes with a voucher, and the tour is run by yours truly. Lots of fun fish facts."

"So do you come free with the deluxe then?" Gwaine said, and Arthur didn't have to look to know that he was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"I never come free," the man said, doing some of his own eyebrow movements - though he was much better at it than Gwaine. Arthur couldn't help but to roll his eyes and sigh.

"Gentlemen, please, keep it in your pants," Arthur said, trying to add his own humour to the situation, whilst simultaneously wondering if the situation was too inappropriate for a place overrun with toddlers.

"Aw, Arthur, are you jeeaaalous?" Gwaine asked in a sing-song voice. Arthur hated it when he did that because he did it with infuriating regularity - and also he was way too good at knowing when Arthur was jealous.

"Of course he is," the man said, deadpan, before Arthur could come up with a retort, "I am clearly too irresistible for either of you to handle it."

"Clearly," Arthur grinned for a second, mildly amazed at the guy's perfected serious delivery of humour. Gwaine simply roared with laughter.

The people who had been behind them in the queue were probably getting at least a little bit confused as to why it was taking them so long to arrange tickets, and so the guy visibly started trying to wrap things up.

"Are you sure I can't interest you in the deluxe ticket? It's not too much extra."

"For the last time, dude, Arthur doesn't want your deluxe package. No means no." Gwaine grinned, giving his last few jokes.

"Hey, fair enough," the man raised his hands in surrender, "Just trying to do my job by attempting to make you spend more money. That'll be £20 then."

Arthur handed over the money, they exchanged very anti-climactic "thank you"'s, and then him and Gwaine were moving off into the main area of the aquarium. 

"Well that was fun," Gwaine said once they were enveloped in the somewhat darkness of the adjoining room.

"Did that encounter just make you rethink your whole stance on aquariums?"

"Unfortunately no. It'll take more than attractive people at ticket counters to change my mind!"

"So was he your type then?" Arthur asked, trying too hard to be casual.

"God, no! He was cute and all, but you know that I'm with Leon now. But he was definitely your type, wasn't he?"

"No!" Arthur protested, then saw the skeptical look on Gwaine's face and remembered that his friend could always read him like a book, "Okay yeah. Look, just shut up and enjoy the fish."

"Why so snippy, my friend?" Gwaine grinned and gestured to a nearby crab, "If you think he's hot like you obviously do, you should go and ask him out."

"Yeah I'm going to go back up to a random stranger that I met like 2 minutes ago at an aquarium and ask him out. Great idea Gwaine, 10/10 for logic."

Gwaine shrugged and moved away to look at information sign with a list of some of the more interesting fish.

"Whatever, it's your choice," he said over his shoulder, and pointed at a picture of a 'common fangtooth' or Anoplogaster cornuta (one scary ass fish with needle-like teeth), "Hey Arthur, look! It's you when you wake up in the morning!"

Arthur smiled and shook his head.

"Oh yeah? You wanna start? You're on, bitch."

 

*

 

It turned it a fun game surprisingly quickly. They both walked around the aquarium exhibits as quickly as possible without being conspicuous, and the first to point at a fish and insult the other got a point. They kept track through the notes app on Gwaine's phone, and so far Gwaine had 20 points and Arthur only had 18. 

Being very competitive people, they were taking it a little bit to seriously.

"Hey, I'm going to head to the toilet now. Truce while I'm gone?" Gwaine suggested.

"Nah. I'll just text you pictures of the fish, and that'll count."

"That's not fair though! I need to pee!"

"You snooze, you lose."

"But-"

"You piss, you pass."

"Is that a thing?"

"It is now."

"Alright, I'll be as quick as I possibly can and then meet you back here."

"Alright, see you in a minute."

Arthur watched him go, and then speedily walked over to a nearby tank to get some good (and hopefully ugly) pictures of sea horses to send to Gwaine.

 

*

 

It was going pretty well: Arthur had made his way into the next room of fish and had sent a total of 20 texts to Gwaine. He was now in one of those tunnels where the fish swim above and around you. It was pretty trippy and the photos weren't coming out too great, but Arthur didn't really mind. Gwaine had started texting back, which meant that he was done peeing and was starting to look for Arthur. Since they'd given the rule that you couldn't repeat fish, he'd probably find Arthur pretty quickly. 

In fact, Arthur was just photographing of a signs that had a picture of one mean looking starfish when he felt a tap on the shoulder. Assuming it was Gwaine, he simply turned the screen of his phone off and pointed at the starfish.

"Look Gwaine, it's you."

It only took one second of no response for Arthur to know something was up. Gwaine would have groaned dramatically at Arthur getting yet another point - and in any case, Gwaine would have made every effort possible to beat Arthur to using the starfish as an insult.

In a scene that wouldn't be out of place in a horror movie, Arthur slowly turned around to face whoever it was that tapped him on the shoulder.

"So to my knowledge that isn't Gwaine (who I'm guessing is the guy you were with before), and it also isn't me. It's a star fish. And anyway, I (or if I were Gwaine) am taking that as a compliment - starfish are freakin awesome."

Surprise surprise - it was the man from the ticket counter. Arthur wondered idly whether the universe was playing a cruel joke on him, or whether it really was just his own stupidity that had got him into this. After all, he just called the poor guy a starfish! Or rather, he called him Gwaine, which is arguably a much more insulting thing to say.

"Starfish are really cool," Arthur said lamely because it was the only thing he could think to say, "Though the one on the sign has a pretty terrifying look to it. And sorry for calling you Gwaine/a starfish. It's kind of a running joke between me and Gwaine - see a fish, say "that's you". So far I have a total of 41 points... Anyway, I kinda thought you were Gwaine."

"I gathered that," he said with a smile, "I thought I'd tap you on the shoulder and let you know that the aquarium closes in half an hour."

"Okay?" Arthur said, confused: it seemed kind of a weird reason for just approaching him (though he certainly wasn't complaining), and the man appeared to be on the verge of saying something else.

"Er, and also I've finished up at the ticket counter now, because y'know we have a policy where we don't let people in half an hour before closing because they won't get their money's worth... so I'm just kind of wandering? And if I'm not mistaken you seem to be wandering too. So... would you like to wander together?"

"I would definitely like to wander with you," Arthur grinned, wondering if wandering was a little cheesy. They set off at a slow pace around the room, pausing every now and then for Arthur to take a picture.

"Look at you, able to get a guided tour for free!" The man grinned.

"Wow I'm so lucky! In return, I will graciously allow you to help me get points and win the game with Gwaine."

"I appreciate your graciousness! I'm Merlin, by the way. Half ticket salesman, half tour guide."

"I'm Arthur: half fish enthusiast, half friend-annoyer."

"I know. I mean, I know that you're called Arthur. Uh, because that's what your friend (Gwaine?) called you earlier."

"Oh yeah! I forgot. Anyway it's good to meet you! Well, we met before but... It's good to meet you again and to know your name!"

Merlin laughed.

"It's good to meet you too. Where is Gwaine, by the way? Did he fall in to the shark tank?"

"I wish! Nah, he left to go pee. Which is why..." Arthur stopped to take a photo of a random creature in a random tank, "I'm spamming him with texts."

"That's a long-legged spider crab that I've nicknamed Jerry," Merlin said absent-mindedly, before touching back down into reality, "So are you and Gwaine...?"

A part of Arthur had been waiting for this question for a while. 

"A couple? No, we're just friends. Funnily enough, we're both gay though... Gay but separate."

"Gay but separate? Should put that on a t-shirt. 'Gay but separate' -Arthur, 2k16," Merlin laughed, and it didn't take much for Arthur to join in. Merlin's laugh was soft but deep, and it had an odd note of music that ran through it and sent a shiver down Arthur's spine. Was that cliché? (That was cliché.)

Arthur wondered what they looked like together, and what people thought as they went past. There was Arthur, stopping to take photos of fish but mostly just wandering along not looking at anything in particular. And then there was Merlin: in his blue uniform shirt and black jeans and orange logo badge, it was obvious that he worked at the aquarium. 

But there was so much to Merlin, and Arthur felt mildly inadequate in comparison. He was just so... Ethereal, in the dark blue lights of the room. There was something vaguely magical in the way that his eyes shone blue like the water in the tanks - they were so blue that Arthur felt momentarily trapped within them whenever Merlin so much as glanced at him. They were like little glimpses of the ocean, tiny shards of sea glass that had been worn away and scratched at but yet still stood the test of time. There was something so ancient and wise within his eyes - or maybe Arthur was reading too much into things again. His hair looked even softer and nicer when Arthur could see it up close, and as they walked together side by side Arthur couldn't help but long to brush that one strand of Merlin's hair out of his eyes.

Arthur didn't notice the silence until Merlin broke it.

"So why do you like aquariums so much?"

"I'm assuming you want some deep reason for it that explains everything about me as a person?"

"Preferably yes."

"Well, I guess my mum used to take me to aquariums a lot when I was a kid. We'd have fun looking at all of the fish, and I was only young so I just remember it being almost magical. It sounds stupid, but the memories of the lights and the sounds of the water and... and my mum standing with me talking about all of the fish and saying silly things... I don't know, in my head it's some beautiful, wondrous place where everything is great because there are so many things to see and learn about. It's so childish and innocent, but that's exactly why I like it. I visit aquariums more than I care to admit."

Arthur was momentarily so caught up in remembering that he didn't notice that they had stopped next to the tank with the sting rays. It was usually one of the more popular exhibits, but seeing as it was getting nearer and nearer to closing time the majority of the families had left already. It was only really Merlin and Arthur left in the room with a few remaining stragglers.

"Why did your mum stop taking you to aquariums?" Merlin asked quietly. He knew the answer; of course he did. Everyone always knew the answer to that particular question, but they always have to ask it.

"She died when I was seven. Cancer. It sucked and I still miss her like crazy, but it was a long time ago now," Arthur was determined not to get even more emotional.

"What was she like?"

"She was so kind. You'll never find a person more caring. She would happily spend hours just talking to me, about whatever I wanted to talk about, and if she ever got bored or tired then by God she never showed it. She never treated me like some little kid; she treated me as an equal, no matter how old I was. I loved her so much - and it really felt like she loved me too, y'know?"

Merlin nodded.

"What about your dad?"

"What is this, a therapy session?" Arthur asked bluntly, then relented, "He's alright. He can be kind of an ass sometimes - a lot of the time. My mother's death nearly destroyed him, so I guess you can't really blame him for how he is. He's hell bent on grooming me to take over his big business when he's gone though, which is annoying because the thought of being A Businessman™ makes me want to die... Anyway, enough about me, what about your family?"

"I never knew my dad: he left before I was born. Well, to be fair he was never around to begin with. So my mother raised me, in a small town some hundred miles away. My mum's some kind of superhero, I swear, she's honestly brilliant. Raised me by herself whilst working two jobs to make ends meet. Things weren't always easy, in terms of money and stuff. But she never once complained. Never spoke badly of my father either, always saying that he was a good man who made mistakes. But if he was a good man, why did he never come back to help her? I'm not sure, but to be honest I'm glad he didn't come back."

"Why did you leave to come here?"

"Have you ever lived in a small town?"

"No, only London."

"Small towns can be really suffocating. Everyone knows everything about everyone - or at least everyone thinks they do. Don't tell everyone but they never really knew me. So I left, to find a place where I could try to fit in. Even if that meant fitting in among fish. My mum still writes me letters and we Skype a lot though."

"That's good. So have you found a place where you fit in?"

"I think so. I hope so. Got a stable job, a smallish but okay flat, even a few friends."

"Are those friends fish?"

"Some of them... Most of them."

"Well, I'm not a fish," Arthur said, his heart beating a little too fast - but then it had been for a while, "but I'll be your friend."

Merlin grinned again, and Arthur couldn't help his heart lurching.

"That's nice of you, Arthur. But did you just friendzone me?"

Laughed a little nervously, Arthur wasn't at all sure what he was supposed to say to that.

"Not if you didn't want me to."

 

*

 

Closing time came around all to fast. Having been unable to locate Gwaine, Arthur waited for Merlin to collect his possessions from the office, and they headed out of the main entrance. Arthur was a little worried for Gwaine; he had been so wrapped up in his conversations with Merlin that he hadn't had the opportunity to even look at his phone.

But as they walked out of the building, Arthur became aware of a familiar figure leaning against one of the walls.

"Hey Gwaine," Arthur said casually as they got closer. His friend looked up coolly.

"I have so won the game, loser! I must have texted you about 50 pictures before a security guard herded me out. You just gave up, what the fuck man? It was an easy defeat!"

Gwaine's eyes finally seemed to focus on Merlin standing awkwardly behind Arthur, and he narrowed them.

"Oh hey, you're that guy from earlier, right?"

"Yeah, I'm Merlin. It's good to see you again!"

"You too. So, Arthur, you finally worked up the courage to ask him out?"

Well he wasn't wrong. But Arthur just smiled - and maybe (definitely) blushed a little.

"Arthur, don't forget that you owe me a night's worth of alcohol, and probably more after your shocking defeat! I'll leave you gentlemen to it then - keep it in your pants, okay?"

None of them were quite able to stifle their laughter, and Gwaine was soon leaving them after dropping a very heavy wink in Arthur's direction.

"Shall I walk you home then?" Merlin asked, a slightly different kind of glint in his eye this time.

"I'd like that a lot."

**Author's Note:**

> I've been suffering from some severe and very long winded writer's block. I personally blame one person for fucking needlessly with my feelings and somehow making the emotions of fictional characters seem unimportant :)))
> 
> But I am wanting to write more!! So please please please, if you have any requests for any kind of writing, just let me know! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this, and I'll see you soon (hopefully)


End file.
